Jakobi Meyers' departure from the New England Patriots this offseason was a bit of a shocker, especially as they signed JuJu Smith-Schuster right after. As many remain disappointed in the move, Bill Belichick shared his side of the story on Wednesday.
Belichick explained that the team still had interest in Meyers when he hit free agency this offseason, showing interest in re-signing him before he agreed to terms on a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Yeah, he was a priority,” Belichick told reporters on Wednesday as his team prepares to take Meyers' Raiders squad. “We talked to him.”
Belichick even indicated that the two sides were closer to agreeing to a deal than realized.
“Relatively,” Belichick said when asked if they almost reached a deal with Meyers. “But free agency is free agency.”
That could be a bit of a surprise to Meyers, though. A day after he agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with the Raiders, the Patriots agreed to terms with Smith-Schuster on a three-year deal worth $25.5 million.
Meyers appeared to be slighted by the deal Smith-Schuster got, writing “Cold world lol” in a social media post reacting to Smith-Schuster's contract.
Meyers later said in an interview on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he “definitely wanted to stay” with the Patriots, saying he's “got a lot of family on that team.”
“It would have been a cool opportunity, but I can’t even sit here and act like I’m not excited to be a Raider now,” Meyers told Eisen.
“I mean, he was a free agent, and he signed with the Raiders,” Belichick said. “There’s a lot of guys who leave and change teams in free agency. But yeah, Jakobi looks like he looked here.”
Patriots miss Jakobi Meyers so far
The loss of Meyers has certainly been felt on offense. He was Mac Jones' top target in the Patriots quarterback's first two seasons in the league, hauling in 150 receptions for 1,670 yards and eight touchdowns in his final two seasons in New England.
As Meyers has reunited with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas, he's on track to put up even better numbers in his first season with the Raiders. He has 25 receptions for 274 yards and three touchdowns through the first five weeks of the season, missing Week 2 due to a concussion.
Meyers' replacement in New England has struggled. Smith-Schuster has 14 receptions for just 86 yards this season and has yet to find the end zone, marking one of the many issues the Patriots have on offense as they've scored just 11 points per game so far in 2023.
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